Ioncube User Guide

ionCube PHP Encoder 6.
User Guide
ionCube Ltd. www.ioncube.com
ionCube and the ionCube logo are registered trademarks of ionCube Ltd.
Contacts and Links
CONTACTS AND LINKS
Contacting ionCube
Please see our contact details at www.ioncube.com/contact.php
FAQ
Find answers to common questions in our FAQ at www.ioncube.com/faq.php
Support
For online support please visit support.ioncube.com
Purchasing Products
To purchase ionCube products please visit www.ioncube.com/purchase.php
Errors, Omissions and Suggestions

The utmost care and attention has been put into the preparation and checking of this User Guide.
If you discover any errors or omissions, or should you have suggestions for improvements,
please contact publications@ioncube.com.
20-May-09 ionCube Encoder 6.5 User Guide 2

Contents
CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 7
1.1 Encoder Outline .............................................................................................................................. 8
1.2 User Guide Notation ....................................................................................................................... 9
1.2.1 Command Examples............................................................................................................ 9
1.2.2 PHP 4 and 5 Encoders ........................................................................................................ 9
1.2.3 Hints and Tips ...................................................................................................................... 9
2 GETTING STARTED................................................................................................................ 10
2.1 Licensing the Encoder ................................................................................................................. 10
2.1.1 Generating a License Request .......................................................................................... 10
2.1.2 Submitting your License Request ...................................................................................... 10
2.1.3 Installing the License File................................................................................................... 10
2.1.4 Transferring a License or Reinstalling a Machine.............................................................. 11
2.2 Running the Encoder.................................................................................................................... 12
2.2.1 Command Line Format ...................................................................................................... 12
2.2.2 Passing Command Line Options ....................................................................................... 12
2.2.3 Filename, Directory and Wildcard Pattern Matching ......................................................... 12
2.2.4 Using Wildcard Characters on UNIX ................................................................................. 14
2.3 Quick-Start Encoding Examples ................................................................................................. 15
2.3.1 Encoding Single Files ........................................................................................................ 15
2.3.2 Encoding Directories.......................................................................................................... 15
2.3.3 Encoding Files with non-default File Extensions ............................................................... 16
2.3.4 Encoding Shell Scripts ....................................................................................................... 16
2.3.5 Encrypting Templates and other Files ............................................................................... 16
2.3.6 Leaving Files Unencoded .................................................................................................. 17
2.3.7 Omitting Files from the Encoding Target ........................................................................... 17
2.3.8 Adding Copyright and License Details to Encoded Files................................................... 17
3 ENCODER COMMAND LINE OPTIONS ................................................................................. 18

3.1 Specifying the Source and Target............................................................................................... 18
3.1.1 Source Items ...................................................................................................................... 18
3.1.2 The Encoder Target [-o, --into].................................................................................... 18
3.2 Encoded File Format .................................................................................................................... 19
3.2.1 ASCII Format [--ascii] ................................................................................................... 19
3.2.2 Binary Format [--binary] ................................................................................................ 19
3.3 Encoding to an Existing Directory Target .................................................................................. 20
3.3.1 Replacing the Target [--replace-target].................................................................... 20
3.3.2 Merging into the Target [--merge-target] .................................................................... 20
3.3.3 Renaming the Target [--rename-target]...................................................................... 20
3.3.4 Updating the Target [--update-target]........................................................................ 20

Contents
3.4 Selecting Files to be Encoded, Encrypted, Copied or Ignored ................................................ 21

3.4.1 Encoding Specific PHP Files [--encode] ......................................................................... 21
3.4.2 Encrypting Files [--encrypt] ........................................................................................... 21
3.4.3 Excluding Files from being Encoded or Encrypted [--copy]............................................ 22
3.4.4 Excluding Files from Target [--ignore]........................................................................... 22
3.4.5 Including Ignored Files [--keep]....................................................................................... 22
3.4.6 Including only Encoded Files into the Target [--only-include-encoded-files] ..... 22
3.5 Bytecode Obfuscation.................................................................................................................. 23
3.5.1 Obfuscating Compiled Bytecodes [--obfuscate]........................................................... 23
3.5.2 Specifying an Obfuscation Key [--obfuscation-key] .................................................. 23
3.5.3 Specifying Obfuscation Exclusions [--obfuscation-exclusion-file] .................... 23
3.6 File Based Server Restrictions (Pro and Cerberus Editions)................................................... 24
3.6.1 Expiring Files after a Period [--expire-in].................................................................... 24
3.6.2 Expiring Files from a Date [--expire-on]....................................................................... 24
3.6.3 Locking Files to Specific Domains and Servers [--allowed-server]........................... 24
3.7 License Based Server Restrictions (Pro and Cerberus Editions) ........................................... 27
3.7.1 Specifying a License File [--with-license].................................................................. 27
3.7.2 Specifying a Passphrase [--passphrase] ...................................................................... 27
3.7.3 License Check Mode [--license-check]...................................................................... 27
3.8 Target File Attributes.................................................................................................................... 29
3.8.1 Copying with Hard Links [--use-hard-links] .............................................................. 29
3.8.2 Using Default File Permissions [--without-keeping-file-perms] .......................... 29
3.8.3 Updating File Times [--without-keeping-file-times] ........................................... 29
3.8.4 File Ownership [--without-keeping-file-owner] ................................................... 29
3.8.5 Setting File Ownership [--apply-file-user, --apply-file-group] ................... 29
3.9 Language Options ........................................................................................................................ 30
3.9.1 Ignoring Short Open Tags [--no-short-open-tags] ................................................... 30
3.9.2 Strict Language Usage [--strict-php] ......................................................................... 30
3.9.3 Register Custom Auto Globals [--register-autoglobal].......................................... 30
3.10 Encoded File Header Customisation .......................................................................................... 31
3.10.1 Removing Run-Time Loader Support [--without-runtime-loader-support] ....... 31
3.10.2 Generating Files with no PHP Header [--without-loader-check] ............................ 31
3.10.3 Customising the ‘no Loader installed’ Message [--message-if-no-loader].............. 31
3.10.4 Customising the ‘no Loader installed’ Action [--action-if-no-loader] .................... 31
3.10.5 Setting the Run-Time Loader Path [--loader-path] ..................................................... 32
3.10.6 Setting the Header Code [--preamble-file]................................................................ 32
3.10.7 Header Comments [--add-comment, --add-comments]........................................... 32
3.11 Customising Loader Behaviour .................................................................................................. 33
3.11.1 Loader Event Messages [--loader-event]................................................................... 33
3.11.2 Callback Files [--callback-file] ................................................................................. 34
3.11.3 Loader Event Constants .................................................................................................... 35
3.12 Encoded Files and Untrusted/Open Source Extensions .......................................................... 36
3.12.1 Blocking Untrusted Extensions [--disallow-untrusted-extensions].................... 36

Contents
3.13 File Properties and Include Attack Prevention .......................................................................... 37

3.13.1 Setting Properties [--property, --properties] ....................................................... 37
3.13.2 Include Attack Prevention [--include-if-property].................................................. 38
3.13.3 Preventing Prepend and Append File Usage [--disable-auto-prepend-append] .. 38
3.14 Project Handling ........................................................................................................................... 39
3.14.1 Specifying the Project File [--project-file] ................................................................ 39
3.14.2 Creating the Project File [--create-project]............................................................... 39
3.14.3 Update a Project File [--update-project].................................................................... 39
3.15 Miscellany...................................................................................................................................... 40
3.15.1 Encoding and Bytecode Optimisation [--optimise, --optimize] ............................. 40
3.15.2 Allowing Encoding into the Source Tree [--allow-encoding-into-source] ............ 40
3.15.3 Documentation Comments [--no-doc-comments] ........................................................ 41
3.15.4 Enforce Minimum Loader Version [--min-loader-version] ....................................... 41
3.15.5 Program Version [-V, --version]................................................................................. 41
3.15.6 Verbose Mode [-v, --verbose] .................................................................................... 41
3.15.7 File Verify [--verify]....................................................................................................... 41
3.15.8 Help [--help].................................................................................................................... 41
4 LICENSE FILE GENERATION (PRO AND CERBERUS EDITIONS) ..................................... 42

4.1 Introduction to License Files....................................................................................................... 42
4.2 Creating License Files.................................................................................................................. 43
4.2.1 Command Line Usage ....................................................................................................... 43
4.2.2 Using Passphrases to Differentiate Products [--passphrase] ....................................... 43
4.2.3 Setting License Restrictions Explicitly [--allowed-server].......................................... 43
4.2.4 Setting License Restrictions from Server Data [--use-server-file] .......................... 43
4.2.5 Selecting Adapters [--select-server-adapter, --select-adapters]............... 43
4.2.6 License Expiry [--expire-in, --expire-on, --expose-expiry]........................ 44
4.2.7 License Properties [--property, --expose-property] ........................................... 44
4.2.8 License Property Checking [--enforce-property]...................................................... 44
4.2.9 Customising the Header Block [--header-line] ........................................................... 45
4.2.10 Viewing Server Data Files [--decode-server-file] ................................................... 45
4.2.11 Troubleshooting License Problems ................................................................................... 45
5 LOADER API............................................................................................................................ 46
5.1 File Information and Execution ................................................................................................... 46
5.1.1 Checking for an Encoded File [ioncube_file_is_encoded]...................................... 46
5.1.2 General Encoded File Information [ioncube_file_info] ............................................ 46
5.1.3 Retrieving Properties Stored in an Encoded File [ioncube_file_properties]......... 46
5.1.4 Retrieving the Loader String Version [ioncube_loader_version]............................. 46
5.1.5 Retrieving the Loader Integer Version [ioncube_loader_iversion]......................... 46
5.2 License and Server Information .................................................................................................. 47
5.2.1 Retrieving Properties Stored in a License [ioncube_license_properties]............. 47
5.2.2 Retrieving the List of Permissioned Servers [ioncube_licensed_servers] ............. 47
5.2.3 Creating a Server Data Block [ioncube_server_data]............................................... 47

Contents
5.3 License Validation ........................................................................................................................ 48

5.3.1 Validating License Properties [ioncube_check_license_properties]................... 48
5.3.2 Validating Licensed Servers [ioncube_license_matches_server] ......................... 48
5.3.3 Validating License Expiry [ioncube_license_has_expired] .................................... 48
5.4 Encrypted File Support ................................................................................................................ 49
5.4.1 Reading Encrypted Files [ioncube_read_file]............................................................ 49
5.4.2 Writing Encrypted Files [ioncube_write_file]........................................................... 49
5.5 Error codes.................................................................................................................................... 50
6 ERROR REPORTING .............................................................................................................. 51
7 TROUBLESHOOTING ............................................................................................................. 52
7.1 Unable to Start the Encoder ........................................................................................................ 52
7.1.1 On UNIX............................................................................................................................. 52
7.1.2 On Windows....................................................................................................................... 52

Introduction
1 INTRODUCTION
The ionCube PHP Encoder is a powerful, high performance solution for encoding and licensing
PHP scripts, and encrypting files of any type.
Encoding and Encryption Total Solution
The Encoder protects PHP /HTML scripts with obfuscated bytecode protection and a custom
execution engine. In addition, any other project files can be automatically encrypted if required,
which is ideal for protecting files such as templates or XML documents. This is complemented
by Loader API functions for reading and writing encrypted files. For most existing template
engines, a small change is all that would be required to add the ability to read encrypted
templates, and for Smarty users, we have a ready made patch to enhance Smarty at
www.ioncube.com/resources/encrypted_smarty_patch.phps
Bytecode Compilation and Obfuscation
The Encoder achieves script protection by first compiling and then optimising PHP scripts to
highly efficient binary data. This compilation process replaces source with virtual-machine
instructions and applies several layers of encoding and transformations to produce the final
platform independent files. Optional function name and local variable binary obfuscation adds
extra protection, with further internal obfuscations applied at compile and runtime. This
approach has the advantage that files are never restored to PHP source, compiled code is
changed and hidden from the Open Source PHP engine, and gives excellent run-time
performance due to parsing and compilation taking place at encoding time. Other Encoder
features allow for the easy addition of plain text to the start of files, which is ideal for including
custom copyright or license details, and is protected against tampering.
License File Creation
License files can be created for your projects with the Pro and Cerberus Encoders that lock your
projects to particular machines. License files can also have an optional time expiry, and can
store arbitrary key/value data that can be read at runtime by the licensed application.
ionCube Loader
The ionCube Loader supports execution of encoded PHP files, encrypting or decrypting general
files, validating licenses, and so on. This component can be easily installed into a php.ini
file, or on many servers, automatically installed when required by the scripts themselves. This is
ideal for shared servers where users often do not have access to the php.ini file. The Loader
is also compatible with other popular extensions, and tools are provided to assist installation.
Windows GUI
For Windows users, a powerful GUI, described online and in the package, makes setting up
projects simple. As well as encoding features, integration with Explorer adds usability features
such as dynamic icons to distinguish between encoded and unencoded files at a glance, and
quick right click encoding with a minimal cut-down GUI. Additional features are available in a
Special Edition GUI upgrade, such as automatic archive creation, FTP, and a unique dynamic
fields feature that dramatically simplifies data entry for custom encoding and license creation
through a dynamically created custom interface. Together with other features, the GUI helps to
maximise productivity.

Introduction
1.1 Encoder Outline

The Encoder is driven by a command line interface allowing for easy automation and integration
into project build, test and release environments, and for calling from UNIX shell scripts or
Windows batch files. Encoding files is fast, making it practical to perform “just in time” (JIT)
encoding if required.
Key features include:
 Maximum protection and performance with bytecode encoding of PHP,

combined PHP/HTML files and PHP shell scripts.
 File encryption feature plus Loader API support for reading/writing encrypted
data, ideal for encrypting templates and XML documents.
 Choice of an ASCII encoded file format for reliable cross platform transfers
with FTP or binary file format.
 Optional binary obfuscation of function and local variable names.
 Recognition of <?php and <? tags.
 Single file or recursive directory encoding.
 File and attribute replication.
 Full control over the project items to be encoded, encrypted, copied or ignored.
 Custom text such as copyright details may be added to encoded files.
 Optional include-attack protection to block interaction with unauthorised files.
 Associating key/value properties with files.
 Projects feature to encode projects with pre-configured options.
 Custom Loader event messages or error handler callback.
 Automatic syntax checking and error reporting of encoded files.
 Syntax-check only operation.
 Exceptionally fast encoding performance.
Features of the Pro Encoder include Basic Encoder features plus:

 Generating files to expire after a time period or on a specific date.
 Generating files restricted by IP addresses and/or domain names.
 Generating files to work only with a valid license file.
 License generator program for creating license files with time expiry, machine
restrictions and custom properties.
Features of the Cerberus Encoder include Pro Encoder features plus:

 Generating files restricted to Ethernet (MAC) addresses.
 Creating license files with MAC address restrictions.

Introduction
1.2 User Guide Notation
1.2.1 Command Examples

Command or program related text in the user guide is printed in monospace type. Command
examples are printed in the form:
ioncube_encoder source.php –o target.php
or to illustrate command usage and output, as
$ ioncube_encoder -V
ionCube Encoder Version 6.5

Copyright (c) 2002-2009 ionCube Ltd.
Shell input is shown in bold, and program output is plain. $ is an example shell prompt for
command entry but this may be different on your own system.
1.2.2 PHP 4 and 5 Encoders

In this document we shall refer to the Encoder command line program as ioncube_encoder.
This program is the PHP 4 Encoder, and it should be used if encoding a PHP 4 project to ensure
that your encoded scripts will run on PHP 4 and PHP 5 servers. The program
ioncube_encoder5 is the PHP 5 Encoder, and should be used when scripts contain
language features only available in PHP 5. For maximum compatibility, the PHP 5 Encoder
supports the language syntax of PHP 5.0 and above.
1.2.3 Hints and Tips

Look out for hints and tips in the guide, for example:
You can use the bookmark feature in Adobe Acrobat to quickly navigate the user
guide, or click on items in the contents section.

Getting Started
2 GETTING STARTED
This chapter introduces some of the most common features of the ionCube command line
Encoder, with quick-start examples for typical scenarios. For Windows users, an additional
document describes the Windows GUI. Chapter 3 describes all command line options in detail,
and will be a useful reference guide to features even if using the Windows GUI. The License
generation program is described in chapter 4, and chapter 5 describes the Loader API, including
features for reading and writing encrypted files.
If reading this guide using Acrobat, you can also use the Acrobat bookmarks feature to quickly
jump to different sections, and in the document you can click on hyperlinks, entries in the
contents section, and on any section references.
2.1 Licensing the Encoder

The Encoder software requires a valid license file. The license is based on the identity of the
machine where the Encoder is to be used, and is obtained by generating a license request file
and sending the request file to licenses@ioncube.com for processing. The process is explained
in detail below.
2.1.1 Generating a License Request

From the Command Line
Run the Encoder with the option --license-request to create a license request file for the
software. On Unix based systems the file will be created in the installation directory. On
Windows the file location is system dependent.
Example:
$ ioncube_encoder --license-request
Generating a license request for machine "grape" in file:
/home/user/ioncube_encoder/licreq.txt
Please email the file to licenses@ioncube.com for processing.
With the Windows GUI
On Windows the license request file can also be created by point-click. Click the “Start Menu”,
and in the ionCube Encoder program entry, select the “License Request Generator” item. The
license request file will be created and Explorer opened on the folder where the request file was
created.
2.1.2 Submitting your License Request

Send the license request file to licenses@ioncube.com for processing. Once processed, you will
receive a license file at the email address on your ionCube member account.
2.1.3 Installing the License File

When the licdata.txt license file has been received you should install this onto the
licensed machine. On Unix systems, put the license file into the product installation directory.
On Windows, click the “Start Menu”, and in the ionCube Encoder program entry, select the
“Browse License Folder” item and put the license file into the opened folder.

Getting Started
2.1.4 Transferring a License or Reinstalling a Machine

Although the Encoder is licensed on a per machine basis, it is possible to periodically transfer a
license between machines, e.g. if upgrading.
To transfer a license, a revoke file should first be generated either by using the
--revoke-license Encoder command line option, or on Windows, with the Delete License
item on the Windows Start/ionCube program group menu.
NOTE: The revoke must be performed on the machine that is currently licensed, and not on the
new machine!
On Unix systems the revoke file will be created in the Encoder installation directory. On
Windows the file is created in the license folder. The revoke file should be emailed to
licenses@ioncube.com. Once the revoke file has been processed a new license request can be
generated and submitted, as described above.

Getting Started
2.2 Running the Encoder
2.2.1 Command Line Format

The general form for running the Encoder to encode is either
ioncube_encoder [options] source -o target
or
ioncube_encoder [options] sources --into target
The -o option encodes source as target, where source and target are both either
single files or directories. Using –-into the Encoder sources can be one or more files or
directories that are encoded into the target with the same name. See sections 2.3 and 3.1 for
more details.
To syntax check use -S and specify one or more files or directories.
ioncube_encoder [options] -S files_and_directories
2.2.2 Passing Command Line Options

Most Encoder options use descriptive names, starting with --. Options requiring a value may
use either an = character or white space to separate the option from its value.
Examples:
--add-comment=”Encoded by ionCube”
--add-comment “Encoded by ionCube”
Encoder options may be abbreviated to the shortest string that makes them unique.
The Encoder will report an error if there are multiple choices.
2.2.3 Filename, Directory and Wildcard Pattern Matching

For options related to files, e.g. –-encode and --encrypt, the Encoder provides flexible
pattern processing to match files and directories by name or wildcard patterns.
Matching Files
Names with no trailing path separator are considered to be filenames.
Examples:
Encode all files with default extensions and any files named x.inc
--encode x.inc
Encode all files with default extensions and any files named config/config.inc
--encode config/config.inc
Encrypt all files in any directories named templates

--encrypt templates/

Getting Started
Directories
Appending a file separator specifies directories.
Example:
Ignore files in directory config and subdirectories

--ignore config/
Wildcard Matching
The Encoder also supports wildcard matching using the wildcard characters *, ? and [].
Wildcards are interpreted as follows:
Wildcard Character Matches

* Zero or more characters, e.g. *.inc
? Any single character, e.g. *.php?
[] Any character from a set, e.g. *.php[34]
[!] Any character not in the set, e.g. *.php[!3]
Examples:
Encode files with default extensions and any files ending in .inc
--encode “*.inc”
Encode all files inside any directories named config

--encode “config/*”
Ignore all directories inside any directories named config

--ignore “config/*/”
Encode any files named config having one character after the name
--encode “config?”
Encode any files named doc0, doc1, doc2, … doc7

--encode “doc[0-7]”
Encode any files named configx, configy and configz

--encode “config[xyz].php”

Getting Started
2.2.4 Using Wildcard Characters on UNIX

When specifying an option value containing a wildcard character, be sure to use quotes or to
escape the wildcard to prevent unintended shell expansion. Remember too that the Encoder can
process entire directories. It is generally not necessary to use wildcards to select multiple files to
be processed, and the containing directory can be named instead.
Examples:
Use
--encode “*.ini”
--encode \*.ini
Instead of:
--encode *.ini

Getting Started
2.3 Quick-Start Encoding Examples

This section provides examples of how to use the Encoder to handle some common encoding
requirements. Filenames and directory paths are examples only.
2.3.1 Encoding Single Files

Examples:
Files can be encoded as another by specifying the file as the source and using –o to name the
target file. The target can be any filename.
Encode /project/file1.php as /encoded-project/file1.php

ioncube_encoder /project/file1.php –o /encoded-project/file1.php
Files can also be encoded into a directory using –-into to name the target directory. The
encoded file is will be given the same name as the source file.
Encode /project/file1.php into directory /encoded-project

ioncube_encoder /project/file1.php –-into /encoded-project
More than one source item can be specified when using –-into but giving a directory as the
source is usually more convenient.
Encode /project/file1.php and /extra/file2.php into /encoded-project

ioncube_encoder /project/file1.php /extra/file2.php –-into /encoded-project
2.3.2 Encoding Directories

Entire directory hierarchies can be recursively encoded by specifying a directory as the source.
Files are either encoded or copied into the target. File attributes are also copied if possible, and
on UNIX, any symbolic links will be replicated.
Examples:
Recursively encode /project as /encoded-project
ioncube_encoder /project –o /encoded-project
or
ioncube_encoder /project –-into /encoded-projects
If the target directory already exists then you must specify how the Encoder should proceed. The
available choices are:
Encoder Option Action

--replace-target Replace the target directory.
--merge-target Merge files into the target directory.
--rename-target Rename the existing target by appending a unique number.
--update-target Similar to merge but only process the source file if its modified time is
later than the target’s modified time.
The –-replace option is most commonly used.

Getting Started
2.3.3 Encoding Files with non-default File Extensions

By default the Encoder will encode files matching the pattern *.php, *.php3, *.php4,
*.php5 (ioncube_encoder5 only) or *.phtml, however files and directories matching any
pattern or name can be encoded by using –-encode. This option may be used as many times
as required.
Example:
Encode files with default extensions and also any ending in .inc
ioncube_encoder –-encode “*.inc” /project –-into /encoded-projects
2.3.4 Encoding Shell Scripts

The Encoder will encode shell scripts that have PHP as their interpreter unless explicitly
directed otherwise with –-copy or –-ignore. By default, the first line of the source shell
script will be copied to the target, but a custom line can be used with the following option
–-shell-script-line ‘#!/usr/bin/php –q’
where the text inside the quotes is an example shell script line. Any encoded script can be used
as a shell script by manually adding a shell script line to the encoded file after the encoding
process is complete, and similarly an encoded PHP shell script will remain a valid encoded PHP
script if the shell script line is removed. On UNIX it is important to enclose the option argument
in single quotes as the ‘!’ character has a special meaning for the shell.
2.3.5 Encrypting Templates and other Files

As well as protecting PHP files, the Encoder can encrypt any other files such as templates and
images. Using the Loader API, encrypted files can then be decrypted only by an encoded file
that was encoded by the same Encoder.
As an example of working with encrypted templates, a simple patch to the popular Smarty
template engine is available on the ionCube website, allowing the Smarty engine to process both
plain text and encrypted templates.
Example:
Encode PHP files with default extensions and encrypt files ending in .tpl
ioncube_encoder --encrypt “*.tpl” /project –-into /encoded-projects

Getting Started
2.3.6 Leaving Files Unencoded

Files that would normally be encoded can be left unencoded and just copied by using --copy.
This option may be used as many times as required.
Examples:
Encode /project into /encoded-projects leaving config/config.inc.php unencoded

ioncube_encoder –-copy config/config.inc.php /project –-into /encoded-projects
Exclude all files matching *_config.php from being encoded

ioncube_encoder –-copy “*_config.php” /project –-into /encoded-projects
Exclude files in config and subdirectories from being encoded

ioncube_encoder –-copy config/ /project –-into /encoded-projects
Exclude files in config from being encoded but not subdirectories

ioncube_encoder –-copy “config/*” /project –-into /encoded-projects
2.3.7 Omitting Files from the Encoding Target

When encoding a directory the Encoder will usually fully replicate the directory hierarchy. It can
sometimes be necessary to ignore some items from the source tree and this is handled with the
--ignore option. This option may be used as many times as required.
Example:
Ignore RCS files and backup files

ioncube_encoder –-ignore RCS/ --ignore “*~” /project –-into /encoded-projects
Use the –v option to check what files are being encoded, encrypted, copied, or
ignored when using –-encode, --encrypt, --copy, --ignore and --keep.
2.3.8 Adding Copyright and License Details to Encoded Files

Custom text can be added to the start of encoded PHP files, and this is useful for incorporating
your own license or copyright messages. Files are protected so that any changes to an encoded
file would prevent it from functioning, and so this text cannot be successfully removed.
Example:
ioncube_encoder –-add-comment “Software written by FooSystems” -–add-comment
“Licensed to SomeCompany Inc.” /project –-into /encoded-projects

Encoder Command Line Options
3 ENCODER COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
This chapter describes all available command line options grouped by their purpose.
3.1 Specifying the Source and Target
3.1.1 Source Items

The Encoder can be used to either encode single files or to recursively encode directories. Items
to encode are passed to the Encoder without any associated option.
3.1.2 The Encoder Target [-o, --into]

The Encoder target may be specified in two ways. The -o option encodes a single source file or
directory as a new name, and the –-into option encodes one or more items into an existing
directory.
Examples:
Encode file hello.php as hello-encoded.php

ioncube_encoder hello.php -o hello-encoded.php
Encode directory /projects/test as /encoded-projects/test

ioncube_encoder /projects/test -o /encoded-projects/test
Encode project /projects/test into /encoded-projects

ioncube_encoder /projects/test --into /encoded-projects
Encode projects project1 and project2 into /encoded-projects

ioncube_encoder /projects/project1 /projects/project2 --into /encoded-projects
Encode file1.php and file2.php into /home/encoded-files

ioncube_encoder file1.php file2.php --into /home/encoded-files
To protect against accidental error and possible loss of source files, the Encoder checks for being
asked to encode directories that lie within the target tree or encoding into a directory that lies
within the source tree. If encoding into the source tree is required then the option
--allow-encoding-into-source may be used, see 3.15.2 below.

3.2 Encoded File Format

The Encoder can produce files in both binary and ASCII format. These formats are discussed
below.
3.2.1 ASCII Format [--ascii]

By default, the Encoder produces encoded files in ASCII format. These files contain only
printable characters, and may be safely transferred using FTP clients operating in either ASCII
or binary mode without being corrupted.
3.2.2 Binary Format [--binary]

Binary format files are marginally more efficient than files produced with the default ASCII
format. The advantages are slightly improved runtime performance and a smaller file size. A
significant disadvantage is that some Windows programs in particular may corrupt binary
encoded files during installation. Corruption can occur because the Windows operating system
uses different characters than UNIX to represent line breaks, and some Windows archive and
file transfer applications will change the line break characters when processing files. Examples
are the CuteFTP file transfer program, WinZip if the TAR smart cr/lf conversion option is
enabled (which it is by default), and FTP programs transferring in ASCII mode. Some PHP
IDE’s with FTP features only support ASCII file transfers, and so guarantee problems.
It may be advantageous to use Binary format files if installation of files is performed correctly,
using tools that will not corrupt the files. However if this cannot be guaranteed, the default
ASCII format is recommended as it still offers excellent performance, and will greatly reduce
the chance of users accidentally corrupting files during installation.

3.3 Encoding to an Existing Directory Target

When an encoding target directory already exists, one of the following options must be used to
tell the Encoder what you want it to do. There are four choices, to replace the target, update the
target with changed files, merge files into the target or to rename the target.
3.3.1 Replacing the Target [--replace-target]

This option replaces an existing target, ensuring that the target contains no files from a previous
encoding. This is the most common option to use when the target already exists.
3.3.2 Merging into the Target [--merge-target]

This will preserve the existing target and all files encoded or copied from the source will be
created or overwrite any existing files. Note that any files already part of the target but not
present in the source project are preserved.
3.3.3 Renaming the Target [--rename-target]

This will rename the target directory by appending a number to it. The number used will be the
smallest number to produce a directory name that does not already exist. It is effectively a
backup option.
3.3.4 Updating the Target [--update-target]

This option is similar to –-merge-target except that files are only processed if the modified
time of the source file is greater than the modified time of the old target file, or the target file
does not exist.

3.4 Selecting Files to be Encoded, Encrypted, Copied or Ignored

By default, the Encoder will encode files having names ending in .php, .php3, .php4 or
.phtml, and encrypt any files specified with --encrypt. All other files will be copied. This
section explains how to encode and encrypt files with other extensions, how to prevent files
from being encoded, and how to exclude files from being part of the encoding target. For more
examples, please see section 2.3. Note that you can use the options described here multiple
times and in any order to describe precisely how you require the Encoder to process your
project.
3.4.1 Encoding Specific PHP Files [--encode]

Use –-encode to specify additional file patterns, files or directories to encode, or to reverse
the effect of --copy (see 3.4.2 below).
Examples:
Encode all files ending in .inc as well as the default extensions

–-encode “*.inc”
Also encode the file licenses/license.key

–-encode licenses/license.key
Encode files in directory tests/encoded

–-encode tests/encoded/
This last example would be useful if you had used --copy tests to tell the Encoder to copy
the directory tests, but where you want the subdirectory encoded to be encoded. Note that this
does not request all files to be encoded, but ensures that any files matching the default
extensions or other file patterns will be.
Encode all files in directory tests/encoded but not subdirectories

–-encode “tests/encoded/*”
3.4.2 Encrypting Files [--encrypt]

Use --encrypt to specify files or directories that are to be encrypted. Encrypted files can be
decrypted by the Loader API ioncube_read_file() function, see section 5.4.1, and only
when called from a file encoded by the same purchased Encoder installation. Typical examples
would be encoding template or XML files.
Examples:
Encrypt files ending in .tpl or .xml

–-encrypt “*.tpl” –-encrypt “*.xml”

3.4.3 Excluding Files from being Encoded or Encrypted [--copy]

Use --copy to exclude files from being encoded or encrypted and to copy them to the target
directory.
Examples:
Copy user_config.php instead of encoding it

–-copy user_config.php
Copy files in directory config and subdirectories

--copy config/
Copy files in directory config but still encode files in any subdirectories
--copy “config/*”
3.4.4 Excluding Files from Target [--ignore]

Use --ignore specifies files and directories to ignore entirely and exclude from the target
directory.
Example:
Ignore RCS directories and emacs backup files

--ignore RCS/ --ignore ”*~”
3.4.5 Including Ignored Files [--keep]

The effect of --ignore can be reversed by using –-keep.
Example:
Ignore all files in directory docs except for README

--ignore docs/ --keep docs/README
The Encoder applies the options above in the order that they appear. Combining them
can achieve precise control over which files are to be encoded, encrypted, copied, or
that will be excluded. The –v option is useful to see the effect of these options and will
show how files were processed.
3.4.6 Including only Encoded Files into the Target [--only-include-encoded-files]

This option will produce a target containing only encoded files. Files that would otherwise be
copied are ignored.

3.5 Bytecode Obfuscation

The ionCube PHP Encoder achieves a high level of protection by compiling PHP source code
into PHP bytecode, storing this in a proprietary format, and executing code inside the Loader
component. This is an analogous operation to compiling a C program into native machine code.
Although the entire source code is eliminated during this process, as with compiled C programs,
some symbols must remain. As a further level of protection, the ionCube Encoder can apply a
one-way binary transformation algorithm to obfuscate certain strings, and elements such as
function names will then not be exposed in their original form by PHP features such as
get_defined_functions(). In addition to user controlled obfuscation, other obfuscations
are also automatically applied during compilation and at runtime.
3.5.1 Obfuscating Compiled Bytecodes [--obfuscate]

The Encoder can obfuscate the names of global functions, the names of local variables in global
functions, and line numbers. The easiest way to use this option is shown in the following
example:
Obfuscate line numbers, function names and local variables

--obfuscate all
This option can also be used with any combination of the tokens functions, linenos,
locals, to allow the obfuscation of any combination of functions, line numbers and local
variables. Separate tokens with a comma and no whitespace.
Example:
Obfuscate line numbers and function names but not local variables
--obfuscate linenos,functions
3.5.2 Specifying an Obfuscation Key [--obfuscation-key]

Even though the obfuscation uses a one-way, non reversible algorithm, a custom obfuscation
key prevents any chance of reversal by chance through observation of known obfuscations. The
obfuscation key must be supplied, and the Encoder will generate an error if it is missing.
Example:
--obfuscate all --obfuscation-key “the 5 claw red dragon”
3.5.3 Specifying Obfuscation Exclusions [--obfuscation-exclusion-file]

While it is desirable to obfuscate an application, it is sometimes necessary to prevent certain
functions from being obfuscated. For example, functions external to the application and called
by the application should not be obfuscated. Similarly, application interface functions called by
external scripts should not be obfuscated.
To specify these exceptions, a text file should be created with the name of each function, one per
line, and the option --obfuscation-exclusion-file should be used to pass the name
of the file to the Encoder.
It is not necessary to add the names of built-in PHP functions to this file.

3.6 File Based Server Restrictions (Pro and Cerberus Editions)

The Pro and Cerberus Encoders can optionally encode files with server restrictions such that the
files will stop functioning beyond some point in time, and can also restrict the machines on
which files can be run. The options for restricting files are described below. As an alternative,
files can be restricted to require a license file containing time and server restrictions. The
License file approach is generally preferable, and is described in section 3.7 below.
3.6.1 Expiring Files after a Period [--expire-in]

Files can be set to expire after a given number of seconds, minutes, hours or days by using:
--expire-in <period>
where <period> is a number followed by either s, m, h or d to denote a period in seconds,

minutes, hours or days.
Examples:
Expire files in 7 days

--expire-in 7d
Expire files in 8 hours

--expire-in 8h
Note that the expiry period is relative to the time that files are encoded.
3.6.2 Expiring Files from a Date [--expire-on]

Files can be set to expire from a specific date by using:
--expire-on <yyyy-mm-dd>
Example:
Expire files from 2008-01-01

--expire-on 2008-01-01
3.6.3 Locking Files to Specific Domains and Servers [--allowed-server]

Encoded files can be restricted to load only on machines with specific IP addresses and/or
domain names. The domain name is also referred to as the server name 1 . Using the Cerberus
version, encoded files can also be restricted by MAC (Ethernet) address.
The complete syntax for server restricting files is:
--allowed-server [<domain names>][@[<IP addresses>]][{<MAC address>}]
Each server specification can contain as many domain names and IP addresses as desired. If
using Cerberus, a MAC address restriction may also be given. At least one type of restriction
must be specified, but items are optional. The option may also be used more than once to specify
multiple restrictions.
1
The server name is an attribute set by the web server for each domain or virtual host, and is the value accessed in
PHP as $_SERVER[‘SERVER_NAME’].

Restricting by Domain Name
Specify domain names separated by commas and optionally ending the list with an @ character.
Examples:
Restrict files to www.foo.com

--allowed-server www.foo.com
Restrict files to www.foo.com and www.bar.com

--allowed-server www.foo.com,www.bar.com
Restrict files to name 1.2.3.4

--allowed-server 1.2.3.4@
Note the trailing @ after the name in this example. An @ after a list of domain names indicates
that all items before should be treated as domain names, even if they look like IP addresses.
Although rare, some domain names can look like the start of an IP address, and if writing a
script to automatically process domain names it is recommended to always add an @ to the end
of the server names to avoid any misinterpretation.
Wildcard Domain Names
Domain name restrictions may contain wildcard characters. The wildcard characters have the
following interpretations:
Wildcard Character Matches

* Zero or more characters, e.g. *.foo.com
? Any single character, e.g. site?.foo.com
[] Any character from a set, e.g. site[123].foo.com
[!] Any character not in the set, e.g. site[!89].foo.com
Restricting by IP Address
IP addresses may be specified as a single address, a range of addresses or a subnet. Multiple

addresses should be specified separated by commas.
Note: When files are accessed via a web server, IP address restrictions are tested against the
server IP addressed reported by the web server. When accessed directly, IP restrictions are tested
only against the primary IP address of network interfaces. For security reasons, interface aliases
are not tested.
Examples:
Restrict files to 192.168.1.4

--allowed-server 192.168.1.4
Restrict files to 192.168.1.4 and 192.168.1.20

--allowed-server 192.168.1.4,192.168.1.20

Restrict files to 192.168.1.20 through 192.168.1.25

--allowed-server 192.168.1.20-192.168.1.25
or
--allowed-server 192.168.1.20-25
Restrict files to 192.168.1 subnet

--allowed-server 192.168.1
Restrict files to subnet with 28 significant bits

--allowed-server 192.168.1.255/28
Restricting by MAC Address
MAC addresses are composed of 6 bytes and should be specified using hex notation as follows.
Example:
Restrict to MAC 00:01:02:06:DA:5B

--allowed-server {00:01:02:06:DA:5B}
Combining Restrictions
Examples:
Restricting files to a domain name and an IP address

--allowed-server www.foo.com@192.168.1.2
Restricting files to a domain name and specific MAC address

--allowed-server www.foo.com{00:02:08:02:e0:c8}
Restricting to either of two domains on either of two IP addresses

--allowed-server www.foo.com,www.bar.com@192.168.1.1,192.168.1.3
Restricting to a domain name, IP address and MAC address

--allowed-server www.foo.com@192.168.1.1{00:02:08:02:e0:c8}

3.7 License Based Server Restrictions (Pro and Cerberus Editions)

A flexible alternative to file based restrictions are license based restrictions. With this
mechanism, files are encoded to require a license file, and the license file contains time and
server based restrictions. A major advantage compared to file based restrictions is that the
encoded files may be encoded just once, with a license file containing custom restrictions
created for each installation. This is especially beneficial when producing software updates as a
single encoded update may be made available to all users, and existing license files will control
the new encoded files. With file based restrictions, it would be necessary to produce an update
encoded for each installation with the same restrictions as the original installation.
Note: License file restrictions override file based restrictions. To avoid accidentally setting file
based restrictions when files are encoded to use a license file, the Encoder will generate an error
if both file restrictions and license files are used.
3.7.1 Specifying a License File [--with-license]

To restrict files to require a license file, use the option
--with-license path
to specify the path of the license file that should be used to restrict the execution of the encoded
script. At runtime, the Loader will search for the license file relative to the location of the
encoded script, so a relative path should be used when specifying the license. The path will often
be just the name of the license file, e.g. license.txt
Typically an application will have a single top level directory. In this case the license file could
be saved into this top level directory, and the filename of the license could be used on the
command line instead of a more complicated relative path. If the Loader cannot locate the
license file relative to the PHP script that needs it, the Loader will search parent directories until
either the License file is found or there are no further parent directories.
3.7.2 Specifying a Passphrase [--passphrase]

License files are encrypted using industry proven algorithms, and with the encryption keyed
with a passphrase. Use the command line option
--passphrase phrase
to specify a passphrase. The passphrase used when encoding files must match the passphrase
used to generate the corresponding license file in order for the Loader to successfully decrypt
the license file when the script is executed. See section 4.2.2 below for more details. If the
Loader cannot decrypt the license file it will prevent execution of the script.
3.7.3 License Check Mode [--license-check]

When an encoded file restricted by a license is read by the Loader, there are two methods by
which the license restrictions can be enforced. The Loader can automatically ensure that all
server restrictions are matched, the license has not expired, and that all enforced properties are
matched in the license file (see section 4.2.8 below). This is the default method, but it can also
be specified by encoding with the option
--license-check auto

A script can also use the Loader API to validate properties, server restrictions, and any expiry
date contained in the license. In order to implement a manual license check, and so prevent the
Loader from automatically validating the license, encode files with the option
--license-check script
Several Loader API functions useful when implementing a manual license check are described
in chapter 5. Please be careful to ensure code security when implementing a license validator in
PHP. In particular if a validator is contained in a file which will be included in each top-level
script, then it is necessary to use Include File Protection to ensure that a hostile user cannot
replace the validator with a different file.

3.8 Target File Attributes
3.8.1 Copying with Hard Links [--use-hard-links]

The Encoder will normally copy any files into the target that are neither encoded nor encrypted.
This is fast, but performance can be improved and disc space saved by using the
--use-hard-links option to replicate by using hard links. This feature is only available
with UNIX Encoders, and only if the source and target files are on the same filesystem.
3.8.2 Using Default File Permissions [--without-keeping-file-perms]

This option applies the default file permissions to target files instead of copying permissions of
the corresponding source file.
3.8.3 Updating File Times [--without-keeping-file-times]

This option creates target files with a current timestamp instead of copying times from the
corresponding source file.
3.8.4 File Ownership [--without-keeping-file-owner]

When running as root on UNIX the Encoder will usually copy file ownership from source files
and directories. This option will create target items as the user running the Encoder.
3.8.5 Setting File Ownership [--apply-file-user, --apply-file-group]

When running the Encoder as root on UNIX, different user and group ID’s can be set for target
files using:
--apply-file-user <user id/name>
--apply-file-group <group id/name>
The id or name may be either a numeric id or a name.

3.9 Language Options
3.9.1 Ignoring Short Open Tags [--no-short-open-tags]

Use this option to only recognise PHP files that use <?php ?> style tags. By default the
Encoder recognises both <?php ?> and <? ?> style.
3.9.2 Strict Language Usage [--strict-php]

Some features of the PHP language are now deprecated and may disappear from future versions
of the language. By default the Encoder permits deprecated language features to be used, but
this option will enable warnings when deprecated features are used.
3.9.3 Register Custom Auto Globals [--register-autoglobal]

Specify the names of custom variables that are to be treated as if they were autoglobals (also
known as superglobals).
For example:
--register-autoglobal MYAUTO
would encode access to $MYAUTO as if it were a global even if not explicitly made global with
the global keyword. It is not necessary to use this option for standard autoglobals, but this
feature may be useful if encoding files containing references to variables that are declared as
autoglobals by a PHP module that will be used in the target system but that is unknown to the
Encoder.

3.10 Encoded File Header Customisation

Encoded files contain a PHP header (the preamble) that, if required, will perform the run-time
installation of the Loader. It will also produce an error message if no Loader could be installed
or in some cases of file corruption. The default header is ideal for most cases, however Encoder
options support customising parts of the header and for setting an entirely new header.
Files may also have custom comments added. This feature offers the addition of plain text
copyright messages, product version number, contact details, and so on. Embedded digital
signatures protect encoded files from tampering, and any modifications to an encoded file will
render it useless. Therefore such messages cannot be successfully changed or removed.
3.10.1 Removing Run-Time Loader Support [--without-runtime-loader-support]

This option shortens the header by removing support for run-time install of the Loader. This is
useful if your encoded files will be installed on a system where you know that run-time
installation of the Loader is not required. The header will still contain code to generate an error
if no Loader is installed.
3.10.2 Generating Files with no PHP Header [--without-loader-check]

This option produces files with no PHP header and only the encoded file data. When running
files without a header there will be no error produced if there is no Loader installed and the
Loader must be installed in the php.ini file.
3.10.3 Customising the ‘no Loader installed’ Message [--message-if-no-loader]

To customise the message produced if no Loader is installed, use:
--message-if-no-loader <text>
<text> must be a valid PHP expression and is passed to the PHP die() function.
Example:
--message-if-no-loader “’No Loader is installed. Please contact support.’”
Note the use of single quotes around the message because a string is being passed to the die()
function.
3.10.4 Customising the ‘no Loader installed’ Action [--action-if-no-loader]

To customise the action when no Loader is installed, use:
--action-if-no-loader <php code>

3.10.5 Setting the Run-Time Loader Path [--loader-path]

To change the run-time Loader path, use:
--loader-path <path>
The current default setting performs selection of the Loader based on operating system type and
PHP version, and is:
'/ioncube/ioncube_loader_'.$__oc.'_'.substr(phpversion(),0,3).(($__oc=='win')?'.dll':'.so')
$__oc is predefined in the header as:
strtolower(substr(php_uname(),0,3))
Changing the Loader path may be useful if you wish to distribute Loaders with your application
but in a different directory, or if you wish to use run-time Loading but do not need to use the
dynamic selection of the Loader.
3.10.6 Setting the Header Code [--preamble-file]

The entire PHP header may be set by using:
--preamble-file <file>
<file> should be the path to a file containing PHP code to place at the start of the encoded
files.
Download the current PHP header as a starting point from either

www.ioncube.com/resources/rtl_php_header.tar.gz or
www.ioncube.com/resources/rtl_php_header.zip
3.10.7 Header Comments [--add-comment, --add-comments]

To add text to appear as comments at the start of encoded files, use:
--add-comment <text>
The option may be used as many times as required.
To add comments from a file, use:

--add-comments <file>
Examples:
--add-comment “Copyright FooBar Inc. 2003” –-add-comment “All Rights Reserved”
--add-comments custom/comments.txt

3.11 Customising Loader Behaviour
3.11.1 Loader Event Messages [--loader-event]

Loader messages generated by run-time events can be customised at encoding time to those of
your own choice.
For each web request, Loader messages customised by an encoded file will take effect for all
other encoded files unless a later included file provides a different message.
To customise an event message, use:

--loader-event “<event>=<message>”
<event> should be the event type to customise and <message> the text to associate with the
event.
Event types are:
Event Type Triggered When…

corrupt-file An encoded file has been corrupted.
expired-file An encoded file has reached its expiry time.
no-permissions An encoded file has a server restriction and is used on a

non-authorised system.
clock-skew An encoded file is used on a system where the clock is set
more than 24 hours before the file was encoded.
untrusted-extension An encoded file was encoded with the --disallow-
untrusted-extensions option, see 3.12 below,
and is used on a system with an unrecognised extension
installed.
license-not-found The license file required by an encoded script could not
be found.
license-corrupt The license file has been altered or the passphrase used to
decrypt the license was incorrect.
license-expired The license file has reached its expiry time.
license-property-invalid A property marked as ‘enforced’ in the license file was

not matched by a property contained in the encoded file.
license-header-invalid The header block of the license file has been altered.
license-server-invalid The license has a server restriction and is used on a non-

authorised system.
unauth-including-file The encoded file has been included by a file which is
either unencoded or has incorrect properties.
unauth-included-file The encoded file has included a file which is either
unencoded or has incorrect properties.
unauth-append-prepend-file The php.ini has either the --auto-append-file
or --auto-prepend-file setting enabled.

Example:
--loader-event “expired-file=This software has expired.”
Custom messages may also contain display formats. Each format is replaced with specific text
as follows.
Format Replaced With

%f The path of the file generating the event.
%i Server IP address (‘no-permissions’ event only).
%h Server name (‘no-permissions’ event only).
%n The path of the unauthorised including or included file.
3.11.2 Callback Files [--callback-file]

To implement a more elaborate error handling mechanism than with Loader Events, a
callback file can be specified to handle Loader error cases. Use the option
--callback-file <relative-path>
to specify a callback file. The path should be relative to the top-level directory of the PHP
application. In particular, if the callback file is contained in the top-level directory, then specify
the filename rather than a full path.
The callback file should contain a function with the signature:

function ioncube_event_handler($err_code, $params)
The error code will be passed as the first argument, and an associative array of context-
dependent values will be passed as the second argument. The error code is an integer, and for
convenience the Loader defines constants for all event error codes. See section 3.11.3 for a list
of all constants.
The name of the file that caused the error is always passed as a parameter with key
current_file, and for server restriction errors parameters are passed with keys
domain_name and ip_address. The path to the expected license file is passed with key
license_file, and for errors related to include file restrictions, the file that included the
encoded file, or was included by the encoded file, is passed with key include_file.

3.11.3 Loader Event Constants

The Loader defines PHP constants corresponding to the supported error codes. These codes
correspond to the Loader events described in the previous section follow:
Value PHP constant Loader Event

1 ION_CORRUPT_FILE corrupt-file
2 ION_EXPIRED_FILE expired-file
3 ION_NO_PERMISSIONS no-permissions
4 ION_CLOCK_SKEW clock-skew
5 ION_UNTRUSTED_EXTENSION untrusted-extension
6 ION_LICENSE_NOT_FOUND license-not-found
7 ION_LICENSE_CORRUPT license-corrupt
8 ION_LICENSE_EXPIRED license-expired
9 ION_LICENSE_PROPERTY_INVALID license-property-invalid
10 ION_LICENSE_HEADER_INVALID license-header-invalid
11 ION_LICENSE_SERVER_INVALID license-server-invalid
12 ION_UNAUTH_INCLUDING_FILE unauth-including-file
13 ION_UNAUTH_INCLUDED_FILE unauth-included-file
14 ION_UNAUTH_APPEND_PREPEND_FILE unauth-append-prepend-file

3.12 Encoded Files and Untrusted/Open Source Extensions

Even though the ionCube Loader has many security features that make hacking or reverse
engineering efforts time consuming and almost certainly unsuccessful, you may wish to allow
your files to run only if “trusted” extensions are installed. Trusted extensions are closed-source
extensions that we know to be genuine. Open Source extensions are untrusted because by their
very nature, they can be modified to behave in ways that were not intended by their well-
meaning creators.
3.12.1 Blocking Untrusted Extensions [--disallow-untrusted-extensions]

Use the above option to not allow your files to work if untrusted engine extensions are installed.

3.13 File Properties and Include Attack Prevention

File properties are key-value pair data items that are securely stored as metadata in encoded
files, separate to the PHP code. Properties can be read by a Loader API function, and also used
with the include attack prevention system. Include attacks are where program scripts are
replaced by unauthorised ones in an attempt to change program behaviour. To guard against this,
encoded files can be protected so that they can only be included by a file with specific properties
defined, and so that they can only include a file if it has certain properties. This powerful feature
can also help prevent unauthorised use of libraries by allowing your included files to only be
included by your own application, and not by someone else’s program.
3.13.1 Setting Properties [--property, --properties]

To define one or more properties, use:
--property “name[=value]”
--properties “name[=value][, ...]”
name is the name of the property to be defined and value is the property value. Use a comma
to separate multiple properties.
Values can be numeric, a string that is optionally delimited by ‘ ’ or “ ”, or an array delimited

by { }. Array elements may optionally have keys.
Examples:
Define a property version with integer value 5

--property version=5
Define a property version with string value “2.0”

--property “version=’2.0’”
Define several properties

--properties “version=1,company=’Foo Technologies’”
Define an array
--property “features={options=>{‘save’,’load’},licensed_to=>’Foo Tech Inc.’}”

3.13.2 Include Attack Prevention [--include-if-property]

To restrict which files can be included by a file and also the files that can include a file, use:
--include-if-property “name=[value][, ...]”
Property name and value are as defined in section 3.13.1 above.
This option may be used more than once to define multiple sets of required properties.
Examples:
Include files if property program_name has value “my app”

--include-if-property “program_name=’my app’”
Include files if property pname is either “app1” or “app2”

--include-if-property “pname=’app1’” --include-if-property “pname=’app2’”
3.13.3 Preventing Prepend and Append File Usage [--disable-auto-prepend-append]

By utilising the auto_prepend_file and auto_append_file php.ini settings it is
possible to specify a PHP file which should run before or after any other scripts. This may
undermine the security of encoded PHP scripts, and can be disabled using the option
--disable-auto-prepend-append
If this option is used and a server has either the append or prepend php.ini setting enabled,
the encoded scripts will not run. Some servers may have a legitimate reason for enabling these
settings, so this Encoder option is not enabled by default.

3.14 Project Handling

Setting up the Encoder for single-command repeat encoding of projects can easily be performed
using UNIX shell scripts or Windows batch files, however the Encoder also has a built-in
projects handling feature that may usefully be used as well or instead.
The projects feature uses a project file to store and provide command line options. Project file
options are merged with any additional options passed to the Encoder, and the project file may
be updated or recreated when required. As the project file is a plain text file, it can also be edited
if necessary.
3.14.1 Specifying the Project File [--project-file]

The project file to use is set with:
--project-file <file>
Once a project file has been created, to encode with the given project options, only this option
need be used.
3.14.2 Creating the Project File [--create-project]

This option creates the project file named with --project-file. The file is created or
overwritten, and is set with whatever other options are used to the Encoder.
Examples:
Create and initialise project file p1

ioncube_encoder –-project-file p1 –-create-project /project1 –into /encoded-apps
Repeat encoding based on project file p1

ioncube_encoder –-project-file p1
Repeat encoding based on project file p1 but with verbose mode enabled
ioncube_encoder –-project-file p1 --verbose
3.14.3 Update a Project File [--update-project]

This option updates a project file by merging in any new options.
Example:
Repeat encoding based on project file p1 but permanently add the –-replace option
ioncube_encoder –-project-file p1 –-replace –update-project

3.15 Miscellany
3.15.1 Encoding and Bytecode Optimisation [--optimise, --optimize]

By default, the Encoder uses an encoding format that encodes with the best Encoder
performance and good run-time performance. At the expense of increased encoding time,
smaller files with possibly better run-time performance may be obtained by increasing the
optimisation level.
The options:
--optimise more
--optimise max
increase optimisation to either an intermediate or a maximum level.
The option –-optimize is an alias for --optimise
3.15.2 Allowing Encoding into the Source Tree [--allow-encoding-into-source]

By default, the Encoder prevents a target directory to be within the source tree or for the source
directory to be within the target tree. This is to prevent accidental overwriting of source files or
unexpected results. The --allow-encoding-into-source option allows this. To avoid
the target being treated as part of the source tree use the –-ignore option to ignore the target.
Examples:
In these examples we have a simple project in a directory called test. The project contains the
file helloworld.php
Encoding with the default safety check

$ ioncube_encoder test -o test/encoded
Error: Can’t encode to a directory within the source tree
The Encoder safety check prevented encoding because the target is within the source tree.
Encoding with the default safety check disabled

$ ioncube_encoder test -o test/encoded --allow-encoding-into-source --ignore encoded/
Source directory
$ ls -R test with source file and
encoded target
test:
encoded/ helloworld.php
test/encoded: Target directory with

encoded result
helloworld.php

3.15.3 Documentation Comments [--no-doc-comments]

Documentation comments are comments with the following syntax:
/**
My code comment
*/
These comments are exposed by the PHP 5 reflection API, and are preserved by the PHP 5
Encoder by default. In order to omit these documentation comments from encoded files specify
the --no-doc-comments option.
3.15.4 Enforce Minimum Loader Version [--min-loader-version]

This option encodes files with a requirement that the Loader version is of the specified version
or greater. This can be useful to ensure that a particular feature of the Loader is supported. The
option should be specified as a version string in the format major[.minor[.revision]].
Examples:
--min-loader-version 3.1
--min-loader-version 3.1.5
3.15.5 Program Version [-V, --version]

To display the program version, use:
-V or --version
3.15.6 Verbose Mode [-v, --verbose]

Verbose mode will produce details of Encoder operations and progress.
3.15.7 File Verify [--verify]

If run-time loading is to be used then files must be able to be read and parsed by the PHP engine
as valid PHP files. This will increase encoding time, and is a legacy option that would only be
necessary if you had customised the PHP header and wish to check it.
3.15.8 Help [--help]

This option displays a summary of Encoder options.

License File Generation
4 LICENSE FILE GENERATION (Pro and Cerberus Editions)
4.1 Introduction to License Files

The Pro and Cerberus editions of the PHP 4 & 5 Encoder bundle offer powerful license file
creation features, with restrictions that can be enforced automatically by the ionCube Loader at
runtime, or by your own scripts and using functions in the Loader API. A license generator
program is also included with the PHP 4 & 5 Bundle product for generating license files.
Scripts can be restricted to run only in the presence of a license file, properties can be set in the
license file that must match properties set in the encoded files, and license files can be used to
restrict encoded files to a particular machine. Licenses can also be set to expire at some point in
the future.
Benefits of License Files
A benefit of using license files as an alternative to setting restrictions to the encoded files
themselves, is that projects will not need to be encoded every time in order to create a custom
build for each end-user. This is particularly helpful when producing software updates to existing
customers, as with license files, one encoded update will work for all installations. If restrictions
are instead associated with each encoded file, a product update would need to be encoded for
each existing customer, complicating the process of issuing a product update.
Server Restrictions
License file server restrictions can be supplied to the license generator in one of two ways. If the
details of the server to be licensed are known, such as IP address, then these can be used
explicitly. Often, however, details are unknown, and the goal is simply to restrict to a server
without knowing the actual parameters. To support this, a Loader API function can be used to
generate server data containing information about the target server, and after being received via
a method such as email or a web form, the data can be passed to the license generator to create a
license file for that server. This can be ideal for automating license generation based on
information supplied from the installed PHP scripts during a licensing procedure.
Custom Properties
In addition to restrictions, custom key value properties can be added to license files and read via
the Loader API. This feature might be used to customise product behaviour based on
information read from the license file.
File Format
A license file consists of a header in plain text, followed by an encrypted data block. Any
properties or restrictions in the license data can be optionally exposed, e.g. the expiry time, and
additional text can be added to the header if desired. Finally, license files are protected by
signatures to prevent removal or changing of the plain text.
Locating License Files
Each encoded file contains a relative path to its associated license file. Typically this will be just
the filename, e.g. license.txt. When accessing a license protected encoded file, the Loader first
looks for the license file path relative to the same directory as the encoded script. If not found,
parent directories will be searched until the license file is found or until the directory root is
reached. This allows for easy installation and management of license files for both shared and
dedicated servers.

4.2 Creating License Files
4.2.1 Command Line Usage

The general form for running the command line license generation tool is
make_license –-passphrase phrase –o output-path
When encoding files that require a license it is necessary to specify a product passphrase. The
passphrase specified when encoding a product should agree with the passphrase specified when
generating the corresponding license, and should generally be unique for a particular product.
The output path is the path to which the new license file will be saved.
4.2.2 Using Passphrases to Differentiate Products [--passphrase]

As mentioned previously, it is recommended that a unique passphrase be used for each product
or product variant that is encoded. This ensures that a license for one product will not unlock a
second product. As an additional layer of security, a license created with one Encoder
installation cannot unlock files encoded with a different Encoder installation, even if the
passphrases were the same. The option --passphrase should be used to specify the
passphrase.
4.2.3 Setting License Restrictions Explicitly [--allowed-server]

The –-allowed-server option allows explicit setting of license file restrictions when target
server details such as domain name or IP address are already known. The specification syntax is
the same as for the similar option of the Encoder. Please see section 3.6.3 above for details of
the syntax and examples. This option may be used more than once if multiple restrictions are
required.
4.2.4 Setting License Restrictions from Server Data [--use-server-file]

An alternative to setting license restrictions explicitly is to use server data collected by the
application being licensed from the target server. Server data is obtained by calling the Loader
API function ioncube_server_data(), and would then be passed back to be used for
licensing. See section 5.2.3 for more details on this API function.
Once server data has been received, e.g. in an email or through a web form, and then written to a
temporary file, the --use-server-file option can be used as follows
--use-server-file path
where path refers to the location of the server data file. As the machine may contain multiple
network adaptors, it is also necessary to use either the option --select-server-adapter
or --select-adapters to select which details to license to. These options are described
in the next section.
4.2.5 Selecting Adapters [--select-server-adapter, --select-adapters]

Server data generated using the ioncube_server_data() API function includes all
network interfaces. In addition, if the API function is called from a script via the web server,
both the domain name and server IP address for the request will be stored if that information
was available. This is the usual case, and it will generally be desirable to license to the
information associated with the web request as this would usually be the same when accessing
the main parts of the licensed product. In other cases, licensing to one or more adapters
explicitly may be preferred. Both of these cases are catered for.

To license to the server information associated with the web request that called the server data
API function, use the option
--select-server-adapter
Provided that the server data was requested from a page under the same domain as the
application to be licensed, errors from mistaken domain names or IP addresses should not arise.
When using this option, if no IP address or domain name was reported then the
make_license program will exit with code 2 to allow handling of this case.
To license to one or more specific adapters, the option

--select-adapters <adapter list>
can be used to select the adapters. Here adapter list is either a comma separated list of numbers
that refer to the position of the adapter in the server data file, or the * character. The first adapter
is identified as 1, and using *, all adapters will be licensed.
4.2.6 License Expiry [--expire-in, --expire-on, --expose-expiry]

These options support the creation of time expiring licenses. Expiry information is stored in the
encoded part of the license file, but can also be exposed in the header block by using the
--expose-expiry option.
These options take arguments of the same format as the options in sections 3.6.1 and 3.6.2 for
setting expiry time on files, and examples are included in those sections.
4.2.7 License Properties [--property, --expose-property]

Custom key/value pair property data can be stored in a license file in the same way that
properties can be stored in encoded files. Use the option syntax
--property “name[=value]”
to specify a property. Multiple properties can be specified in this way. See section 3.13.1 for
more details on the supported syntax. Properties can also be exposed in plain text in the license
header block by using the option
--expose-property name
4.2.8 License Property Checking [--enforce-property]

Properties may be included in a license either as a convenient mechanism for securely accessing
custom data from an encoded script, or in order to lock a license to an encoded file. If a property
is to be used for the latter purpose, the option
--enforce-property name
should be used. By default, encoded files secured by such a license must have a property with a
matching key and value. If the property is not found then the Loader will exit before execution
of the script begins. See section 3.7.3 for details on how to customise this behaviour.

4.2.9 Customising the Header Block [--header-line]

The text which occurs before the encrypted license data is called the header block. As with
encoded files, this is protected from tampering and so it is important that this text is not edited
after the license has been generated otherwise the license will become corrupted as a result. The
header block content is determined by those properties which have been exposed, whether there
is an exposed expiry date, and any custom header lines. To add custom lines to the header block,
for each line use the command line option
--header-line text
4.2.10 Viewing Server Data Files [--decode-server-file]

Once saved to a file, the contents of data generated by ioncube_server_data() can be
viewed with the make_licence program option
--decode-server-file path
where path is the path to a file containing server data. The domain name and server IP address
that were reported by the web server for the request calling the API function are output first,
followed by the name, IP address, and MAC address of each adapter installed on the server. To
be both human readable and easily parsed, each line has a field name and value separated by a :
character. If there was no domain name or IP address stored for the request, the field value will
be the token none.
4.2.11 Troubleshooting License Problems

If an encoded script that requires a license fails, the particular error message displayed can give
a clue as to the cause of the issue. For security reasons the error messages are general rather than
specific.
If the license is reported to be invalid then a license property set in the license has not been
matched in the encoded file. If the license is corrupt then either the contents of the license file
have been altered, or the passphrase in the encoded file does not match the passphrase used to
generate the license file. If the license is not valid for this server then a server restriction in the
license has not been met.
If it is necessary to determine the contents of a license file the Loader API can be used. Encode a
script with the options
--with-license license.txt –-license-check auto
then use the Loader API to output the server restrictions, expiry date, and any properties
contained in the license.

Loader API
5 LOADER API
The ionCube Loader contains an API providing various functions and constants that may be
useful to PHP scripts. Most functions return results dependent on whether or not the calling
script was encoded.
5.1 File Information and Execution
5.1.1 Checking for an Encoded File [ioncube_file_is_encoded]

This function returns TRUE if the file containing the function call is encoded, and FALSE
otherwise.
5.1.2 General Encoded File Information [ioncube_file_info]

This function returns FALSE if the file is not encoded. Otherwise it returns an associative array.
The contents of the array are as follows:
Key Value
FILE_EXPIRY Either the file expiry time, or the license expiry time if a license file is
present. The time is an integer in UNIX timestamp format: the number of
seconds elapsed since midnight (00:00:00), January 1, 1970.
ENCODING_TIME UNIX timestamp representing the time the file was encoded.
DEMO TRUE if the file was encoded with an evaluation Encoder, otherwise
FALSE.
5.1.3 Retrieving Properties Stored in an Encoded File [ioncube_file_properties]

This function returns an associative array consisting of file properties that were added to the
encoded file with the –-property or --properties command line option to the Encoder.
Only properties defined in the calling script are returned.
5.1.4 Retrieving the Loader String Version [ioncube_loader_version]

This function returns the Loader version as a string.
5.1.5 Retrieving the Loader Integer Version [ioncube_loader_iversion]

This function returns the Loader version as an integer.

Loader API
5.2 License and Server Information
5.2.1 Retrieving Properties Stored in a License [ioncube_license_properties]

This function returns an associative array consisting of license properties. Properties are added
to a license by specifying the –-property command line option to the make_license
program. Each value in the associative array retrieved by this API function is itself an array with
two values: the license property value itself, and a boolean value signifies whether the property
is enforced.
Recall that an enforced property is one that the Loader will attempt to match with an encoded
file property if the –-license-check auto option is passed to the Encoder on the
command line.
The return value of this function is FALSE if the calling file is not encoded or has no license
file.
5.2.2 Retrieving the List of Permissioned Servers [ioncube_licensed_servers]

This function returns an array of server restriction specifications. These are the same strings
which were specified on the command line when the license was created.
5.2.3 Creating a Server Data Block [ioncube_server_data]

When generating a license for an end user it will usually be necessary to retrieve information
about the end user’s server. This Loader API function generates a server data block containing
information about the network adapters installed on the server and the server’s domain name.
This data block can then be used in conjunction with the make_license program to generate
a license restricted to the user’s domain and server.
This function can be called from either an encoded or unencoded script.

Loader API
5.3 License Validation
5.3.1 Validating License Properties [ioncube_check_license_properties]

This API function returns TRUE if all enforced license properties are matched in the encoded
file. Otherwise an array is returned consisting of all unmatched enforced properties.
5.3.2 Validating Licensed Servers [ioncube_license_matches_server]

This function returns FALSE if the file is encoded, requires a license, and the license has a
server restriction which is not met by the current server. In all other cases the function returns
TRUE.
In the case that an encoded script requires a license, but the license could not be found, the
Loader will prevent execution of the script. This case does not occur, therefore, when calling the
ioncube_license_matches_server() API function.
5.3.3 Validating License Expiry [ioncube_license_has_expired]

This function returns TRUE if the file is encoded, has a license, and the license has an expiry
time which has passed. In all other cases the function returns FALSE.

Loader API
5.4 Encrypted File Support
5.4.1 Reading Encrypted Files [ioncube_read_file]
mixed ioncube_read_file(string path

[,bool &was_encrypted [,string passphrase] ] ] )
This API function can be used to read files encrypted by the Encoder with the –-encrypt
command-line option. If the file is read successfully the contents are returned as a binary-safe
string. An integer is returned in the case of an error condition (use the PHP function is_int()
to distinguish these cases). See 5.5 below for a table of error codes.
Both plain text and encrypted files can be read by this function, allowing the function to be used
in situations where it is not known ahead of time whether a file will be encrypted. For example,
a template engine could be designed that would accept both encrypted and unencrypted template
files. If it is necessary to know whether a file was encrypted after it has been read the second
optional argument (passed by reference) can be examined.
If an encrypted file has been written with a custom passphrase (i.e. a nonempty passphrase
argument was passed to the ioncube_write_file() API function), the same passphrase
should be specified as the third argument.
Files encrypted by one Encoder can only be read by PHP scripts encoded by the same Encoder,
and encrypted files cannot be read by unencoded scripts.
5.4.2 Writing Encrypted Files [ioncube_write_file]

integer ioncube_write_file(string path, string content
[,bool encrypt [,string passphrase] ] ] )
Encoded PHP scripts can write encrypted files using this API function. Files written in this way
can be read with the ioncube_read_file() API function.
The first argument is the path of the output file.
The second argument is a binary-safe string containing the content to encrypt.

The optional third argument can be set to FALSE to write a plain text file.
The optional fourth argument can be used to specify a custom passphrase which will replace the
default installation-specific passphrase. If a custom passphrase is used then files encrypted with
one installation can be read by a different installation’s encoded files, if the correct custom
passphrase is passed to the ioncube_read_file() API function.

Loader API
5.5 Error codes

The following table lists the error codes that can be returned from the API functions detailed in
this section.
Code Meaning
0 The file was successfully written.
1 The file could not be opened.
2 The file is corrupt.
3 An updated Loader should be installed to read the file.
4 An error occurred while reading the source file.
5 An error occurred while writing an encrypted file.
6 An error occurred while encrypting the file contents.
7 An encrypted file cannot be read by an unencoded PHP script.
8 The wrong passphrase was specified, or the wrong Encoder
installation was used to encrypt the file.
9 ioncube_write_file() must be called from an encoded file

to produce an encrypted file without a custom passphrase.

Error Reporting
6 ERROR REPORTING
The Encoder reports syntax errors in the emacs/xemacs style format of
filename:line number:message
This offers possible integration with emacs/xemacs and direct access to the point of error in
source files. For example, given a directory of PHP files called myproject, running the
xemacs compile command and specifying the compiler as
ioncube_encoder -S myproject
will syntax check all PHP files and report errors in a buffer. With the default xemacs key
bindings, simply hitting ctrl-X will visit each file reported as containing an error and place
the cursor at the line containing the error.

Troubleshooting
7 TROUBLESHOOTING
7.1 Unable to Start the Encoder
7.1.1 On UNIX
On UNIX if you receive an error similar to
$ ioncube_encoder
bash: ioncube_encoder: command not found
this is because the directory where the Encoder is installed is not listed in the shell PATH
variable. It is recommended to use either a relative or absolute path to the Encoder rather than
adding the Encoder directory to the PATH as this may cause product license related problems on
some systems.
Examples:
Run from the current directory

./ioncube_encoder
Run the Encoder installed in /usr/local/ioncube

/usr/local/ioncube/ioncube_encoder
7.1.2 On Windows
On Windows, you can edit the PATH environment variable for the logged in user by going to the
control panel, selecting the System item and clicking on the Environment tab.

Ioncube User Guide

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ioncube User Guide

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

ionCube PHP Encoder 6.

ionCube Ltd. www.ioncube.com

CONTACTS AND LINKS

Errors, Omissions and Suggestions

20-May-09 ionCube Encoder 6.5 User Guide 2

3 ENCODER COMMAND LINE OPTIONS ................................................................................. 18

20-May-09 ionCube Encoder 6.5 User Guide 3

3.4 Selecting Files to be Encoded, Encrypted, Copied or Ignored ................................................ 21

20-May-09 ionCube Encoder 6.5 User Guide 4

3.13 File Properties and Include Attack Prevention .......................................................................... 37

4 LICENSE FILE GENERATION (PRO AND CERBERUS EDITIONS) ..................................... 42

20-May-09 ionCube Encoder 6.5 User Guide 5

5.3 License Validation ........................................................................................................................ 48

6 ERROR REPORTING .............................................................................................................. 51

20-May-09 ionCube Encoder 6.5 User Guide 6

Encoding and Encryption Total Solution

Bytecode Compilation and Obfuscation

License File Creation

20-May-09 ionCube Encoder 6.5 User Guide 7

1.1 Encoder Outline

Key features include:

 Maximum protection and performance with bytecode encoding of PHP,

Features of the Pro Encoder include Basic Encoder features plus:

Features of the Cerberus Encoder include Pro Encoder features plus:

20-May-09 ionCube Encoder 6.5 User Guide 8

1.2 User Guide Notation

1.2.1 Command Examples

ioncube_encoder source.php –o target.php

or to illustrate command usage and output, as

ionCube Encoder Version 6.5

1.2.2 PHP 4 and 5 Encoders

1.2.3 Hints and Tips

20-May-09 ionCube Encoder 6.5 User Guide 9

2.1 Licensing the Encoder

2.1.1 Generating a License Request

Generating a license request for machine "grape" in file:

Please email the file to licenses@ioncube.com for processing.

With the Windows GUI

2.1.2 Submitting your License Request

2.1.3 Installing the License File

20-May-09 ionCube Encoder 6.5 User Guide 10

2.1.4 Transferring a License or Reinstalling a Machine

20-May-09 ionCube Encoder 6.5 User Guide 11

2.2 Running the Encoder

2.2.1 Command Line Format

ioncube_encoder [options] source -o target

ioncube_encoder [options] -S files_and_directories

2.2.2 Passing Command Line Options

--add-comment “Encoded by ionCube”

2.2.3 Filename, Directory and Wildcard Pattern Matching

Names with no trailing path separator are considered to be filenames.

Encrypt all files in any directories named templates

20-May-09 ionCube Encoder 6.5 User Guide 12

Appending a file separator specifies directories.

Ignore files in directory config and subdirectories

Wildcards are interpreted as follows:

Wildcard Character Matches

Encode all files inside any directories named config

Ignore all directories inside any directories named config

Encode any files named doc0, doc1, doc2, … doc7

Encode any files named configx, configy and configz

20-May-09 ionCube Encoder 6.5 User Guide 13

2.2.4 Using Wildcard Characters on UNIX